Mona Shores students to be assigned laptops in one-on-one pilot project

MLive file photoMona Shores is piloting a one-to-one computer initiative in middle and high school classes to assess devices and online teaching strategies.

NORTON SHORES, MI -- A one-to-one computer initiative at Mona Shores middle and high schools will explore new ways of delivering instruction without textbooks.

Students in two seventh-grade social studies classes and high school English, math and psychology classes will each be assigned their own computer as part of the pilot project next year.

The project will explore the best ways to use web-based instruction and how it impacts learning, said Lane White, technology director for the district.

“Teachers are screaming for it,” White said.

Carts containing 30 netbook laptop computers will be used in Jeff Bush’s and Karen Hanichen’s social studies classes at the middle school and in high school classrooms of Chris Johnson, an English/language arts teacher, and Heather Hall, who teaches English and psychology.

The middle school students will use the computers nearly all the time in class, while high school students will receive “blended instruction” with textbooks, said Camille Gabris, director of curriculum.

In addition, high school math teacher Tracy Sauceda-Geoghan will hold algebra and advanced placement calculus classes in a computer lab.

“The teachers are really excited,” Gabris said. “They have done a lot of work this summer.”

Much of that work involves creating new lesson plans using Web-based resources, Gabris said.

“The real focus is the teachers transforming the learning that students need via the device,” she said.

By the end of the school year, the hope is that some students will be able to take computers home with them. That is necessary for implementing “flip” learning that is becoming increasingly popular with students and teachers.

In flipped classrooms, teachers videotape their lectures that their students watch at home on computers. That allows students to do the related assignments – traditional homework – in the classroom where the teacher can answer questions and ensure students do the work correctly.

Gabris said Mona Shores likely will first experiment with flipped classrooms at the high school advanced placement level.

One-to-one student computer initiatives are already under way in some schools. Seventh- through 12th-graders at Muskegon Catholic Central will receive netbooks this year that high school students will be able to take home with them. Alternative high school students in Muskegon, Holton and Muskegon Catholic also have had their own assigned laptops.

Mona Shores’ pilot program will allow educators there to evaluate the netbook devices to see if they are the best option for students. Gabris said a one-to-one pilot with iPads last year didn’t work out, and White said part of the issue is that the district does not have a lot of Macintosh computers or software.

“I know a lot of districts are diving into it,” White said of the one-to-one concept. “We just want to study it more.”